Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and state government and have dismissed claims the West Gate Tunnel poses a safety risk to firefighters and emergency services personnel.
According to recent media reports, top firefighters have highlighted design flaws, access problems, and a lack of training, equipment, detailed response plans and procedures and radio communications testing as major safety hazards in the soon to open tunnel.
These concerns have been backed by the United Firefighters Union (UFU) which said its members were alarmed by the revelations.
“Right now we have a major piece of infrastructure about to open that has not had the right preparation,“ UFU secretary Peter Marshall said.
“The fire service has not done the training. They have not got the equipment.
“The Government and Fire Rescue Victoria leadership have not addressed the risks that make the difference between a rescue and a recovery – between survival and death – for members of the
public and the firefighters who protect them.”
A spokesperson for FRV rejected the accusations, saying they’d ensured fire safety features were part of the tunnel’s design and that training had already taken place with more to come.
“More than 120 FRV firefighters have undertaken site familiarisation tours of the tunnel, learning about important aspects of the control room, cross passages, egress out and under connections, communication systems, maintenance tunnels and road deck,” the FRV spokesperson said.
“Before the tunnel opens, FRV and other emergency services will participate in emergency management exercises, which are scheduled to take place in coming weeks.
“FRV understands that these exercises were originally expected to occur earlier, however, due to updated project time frames, they have been rescheduled to ensure all construction elements are fully completed prior to exercises taking place.”
A spokesperson for the state government said the West Gate Tunnel would be safe to open before the end of the year.
“Claims that firefighters lack the capability, training and equipment to respond to incidents in the tunnel are wrong,“ the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for tunnel operator, Transurban, said the company had safely operated tunnels for more than 20 years and would apply that same expertise to the West Gate Tunnel.
